Perryville soccer team advances to first state final four

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perryville coach Jerry Fulton could not have guessed that Pablo Mattingly would have such a big impact on the Pirates season earlier this year.

Mattingly, who is left-footed, struggled to take shots with his right foot all season, but in a Class 2 sectional against Bayless and again Saturday in a quarterfinal against John Burroughs, the Pirates needed his right foot.

With five minutes remaining in a scoreless game, Luke Schlichting stole a pass near the top of the box and settled it before passing the ball to Mattingly. A John Burroughs defender had a chance to clear the ball, but the ball rolled past him and right to the feet of Mattingly. He dribbled for a few steps, paused and then took a shot with his right foot. Mattingly didn't have much force on his shot, but it was angled just enough to pass by diving John Burroughs goalie Nick O'Brien and into the bottom right corner of the net.

Mattingly's goal was all Perryville (27-1) needed. The Pirates held on to defeat Burroughs (12-8-2) and advanced to their first-ever state final four at the Perryville soccer complex.

"You could've asked me four or five months ago if it was possible that Pablo wins the sectional game and quarterfinal game with his right foot and I would've laughed," Fulton said after Mattingly's goal knocked off the defending Class 1 champions. "I don't know if it's because we've put so much emphasis on this game, but I'm in shock. I knew my boys could do it, I've said they could do it and I knew if everyone stuck to our game plan and stayed focused we'd win this thing."

Mattingly also scored the game-winning goal for the Pirates in a sectional against Bayless. Mattingly said Fulton deserves all the credit for teaching him to use his right foot.

"It was my right foot again. I can't believe it," Mattingly said. "If it wasn't for him I would not be talking to you and we might not even be celebrating right now. That's how important my right foot is to me now. It's completely changed me as a player."

Perryville's Emmanuel Miranda works the ball away from John Burroughs' Jon Dimartini in the first half of the Class 2 quarterfinal Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 in Perryville. (Glenn Landberg)

Mattingly's goal was the first goal Burroughs allowed in a playoff game since 2012.

"That speaks volumes about how hard it is to score against them and how hard these guys work," Fulton said. "They were denying everything we had early on and we knew it would be hard to get one. I'm proud of those guys for sticking with it and playing all out for every minute of the game."

The Pirates season ended in a quarterfinal loss to St. Mary's last year. Fulton said his team looked nervous and overwhelmed in such a high-pressure situation.

To prevent the same outcome this season, Fulton took his team bowling on Friday just to get their minds off the game for a short period of time.

"It was just a simple thing we could all do so that they could have fun and relax for a minute," Fulton said. "It's amazing what we've accomplished in just seven short years. I don't want these guys to take that lightly because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that they probably won't ever forget."

Perryville outshot the Bombers 10-2 in the game.

Senior Matt Moran stole a pass eight minutes into the game and passed to a wide-open Eann Bergman. Bergman passed to Schlichting in the middle, who one-timed a shot towards the goal. However, his shot was right at O'Brien, who made the easy save.

Six minutes later, Collin Steif took a free kick that was right on goal. O'Brien bobbled the ball and dropped it. Two Perryville attackers attempted to gain possession, but the ball was cleared by a Burroughs defender.

Perryville fans celebrate and take to the field after winning the Class 2 quarterfinal game against John Burroughs on Saturday in Perryville. (Glenn Landberg)

Fulton said Burroughs defense deserved some credit for shutting down the Pirates early.

"I think you can look back and give that first half to Burroughs," Fulton said. "They've got a great defense, just look them up, they don't give up many goals. They have played very well this year and if they took us lightly shame on them, but they are very sound back there. I think it was just a matter of them not making some adjustments late."

Perryville's defense was even better against the visiting Bombers. The Pirates denied Burroughs of any good chance to score, thanks in part to senior Trevor Martin.

Martin said he made some mistakes against Bayless and was eager to fix his mistakes. Martin allowed a Bayless forward to get past him and score in Perryville's meeting with the Bronchos earlier this week. Martin put it behind him and said he played the best he has all season against the Bombers.

"I just told myself, 'I've played well all season and I can't let one little thing like that mess up the rest of it,'" Martin said. "I tried to relax and get it out of my mind. It's what coach has been telling us all along, just step up and win balls and get it up so we can create scoring chances. It was simple for me because I knew that I made some mistakes against Bayless, and I was really wanted to improve off of that game."

Perryville rattled off three straight shots within the first five minutes of the second half, but all were denied by O'Brien. With 25 minutes remaining, Kyle Wood nearly scored on a throw-in. His throw was right at the penalty kick marker where Schlichting was charging in an attempt to score on a head ball, but a defender knocked Schlichting out of the way and O'Brien came out to make the save.

Two minutes later, the Bombers got their first and only shot on goal on a corner kick. Perryville goalie Luke Dobbelare punched the ball away from the box and Martin came in to clear it and end Burroughs only threat of the half. Dobbelare had three saves in the game.

Perryville will face St. Pius X (Kansas City) in a semifinal Friday at 4 p.m. in Kansas City, Missouri. Martin said Perryville would celebrate their win for a short time, but Monday the Pirates will begin preparation for the Warriors.

"We'll take tonight to let it settle in, but it's going to be right back to work on Monday," Martin said. "We aren't going to know much about these teams except for the fact that they're going to be good. That's OK with us because we've already beaten two of the top teams in the state in St. Pius X (Festus) and now Burroughs. We'll look up stats and do the regular things we do, but we like our chances a lot."